Half naked, handcuffed and filmed by cameras. A total of 33 men have been arrested in a public toilet in the center of Cairo on charges of “debauchery” in most raid last decade against the gay community. The terrifying frames arrest and victims face took on Monday the prime time of a private television in a new twist of the Egyptian regime against civil liberties.
The whipped took place late on Sunday a “hammam” (public bath) Ramses area in the center of Cairo . The police raided the place arresting customers, the owner of 60 years and their employees. Scantily clad, were transferred to vans security forces, who received the tip from the private television channel ‘Al Qahera wal Nas’ (‘El Cairo and people’ in Arabic).
According to the chain, its space ‘Al Mestajabi’ (‘The Hidden’) was recorded during weeks homosexual orgies and male prostitution were recorded at the site. “Today is a good day for this program. We managed to close a den of sex between men. All were arrested,” proclaimed his hostess, Mona Iraqi, and advance the episode that showed last night raid and arrest User bath.
Authorities said that the detainees are accused of “practicing debauchery” and go to a center where “immoral and indecent acts” were held. The detainees remain four days under arrest while charges are investigated and transferred to a criminal court. The arrest -the last of climbing holding the police against the gay community since the coup of July 2013- has been denounced by local activists and netizens.
Alarm among activists
The publication of images of the raid has alarmed activists and American Scott Long, who led until 2010 the department of gay, bisexual and transgender Human Rights Watch (HRW) and resides in The Cairo. “What is clear is that other means of communication defender Al Sisi [former army chief become president of the country] is working closely with the security forces to produce a show with images dreadful and terrible, and invade privacy and destroy innocent lives, “laments Long on your blog.
Accused of crossing all boundaries and violate all ethical codes, the presenter who uncovered the alleged scandal and participated recording of detainees has defended his professionalism and usefulness of the alleged investigation. “The photo that show up filming men entering the police van will pursue life,” warns a surfer on the Facebook page of the program.
The terrible raid and its echo is produced one month after the Egyptian Justice eight men condemned to three years in prison for appearing in the video of the alleged “first gay wedding” held in Iraq. The court misdemeanor Qasr al Nil, Cairo, found them guilty of “inciting debauchery” and “offending public morals” after the defendants were subjected to an infamous medical examination, denounced by organizations practice human rights. The test, conducted by forensic authorities at the request of the attorney general determined that “were not homosexuals.”
The prosecution, however, transferred the case to a criminal court to “safeguard the values of society and justice “. The eight accused were arrested in early September after circulating on the Internet and local media the video of course first homosexual liaison Egypt, celebrated aboard a boat on the Nile.
After days of media scandal, one of the people who participated in the controversial party denied his alleged homosexuality in a call to a local television. “I had to talk. I can not sit idly by and watch tarnished my reputation. I’m afraid to walk the streets and eager to scream and tell people that I’m not as think” explained .
In the spotlight
Since the coup that ousted from power the Muslim Brotherhood, the police apparatus and Egyptian courts have at their point of look to the gay community, accustomed to living in the shadow. In late September, an Egyptian court sentenced to two years in prison arrested six suspected homosexuals in the apartment where, according to the fallo- committed “acts of debauchery”.
While the regime has perpetrated a brutal crackdown on dissent, l as raids against the gay community have multiplied in an attempt to demonstrate the commitment of the new government with morality and compete with the ultraconservative ideology of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The cascade of arrests has spread panic among Egyptians gay . Some have stopped using Grindr, dating application via the mobile phone that allows users close contact, for fear that the police will be using it for hunting. Festivals and meeting places have also become places to avoid.
The police practices are a replica of the times in which the dictator Hosni Mubarak Egyptians subjugated. Pursued by the police and the most conservative moral, Egyptians are used to being gay white public scorn with raids like the one that took place on May 11, 2001. That night, 52 men were arrested in the Queen Boat, a night club banks of the Nile, and charged with “debauchery” and “lewd conduct” according to a 1961 law aimed at combating prostitution. During his ordeal in prison, were beaten, tortured and even suffered sexual abuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment